Signs of things to come highlight an improved look in Walnut Creek

Signs of things to come highlight an improved look in Walnut Creek
Dave Mast

The new street signs all over Walnut Creek may look like antique wood, but they are designed with the lasting power of steel and were created to embellish everything the town represents in its quaintness.

                        

Well known for its Amish and rural feel, this past year the town of Walnut Creek went about trying to find the best way for its street signs to properly portray that soft, inviting image that the town represents.

Recently they added what they feel is the perfect touch with new road signs adorning every street corner and intersection.

Walnut Creek’s village sign committee started looking into this project in early 2016 and soon found that it wasn’t just a simple chore of pounding a few dozen street signs into the ground.

“In theory what sounds like a simple process of collecting some sign ideas and designing them and putting them in place isn’t all that easy,” committee member Molly Mohr of Commercial & Savings Bank said. “There are a lot of guidelines from Ohio Department of Transportation, guidelines that include sizing and location requirements. Then there is always the fun of figuring out who owns the project when you are an unincorporated little village within a township.”

Mohr said the Walnut Creek Business Association strived to take on the project because the members wanted the street signs to reflect the pride and appearance that Walnut Creek exhibits. Mohr noted that the former signs weren’t attractive. Some were missing. Some were worn and sideways, and they felt it was time to update the street signs.

“The goal was to put something together that would remain true to the quaintness of the township and would fit with our culture and our way of life,” Mohr said.

An exploratory committee of Paula Miller of Walnut Hills, Merle Hershberger of Hillcrest Orchard, Eli Mast, Jr. of Mast Farm Service and Mohr heard opinions, explored design options and most importantly made sure everything was ODOT compliant.

Minute details like the minimum size the letters on the street signs had to be in height and many other unforeseen regulations came into play.

Mohr said one of the things they were adamant about was doing things the right way the first time, so it did take some time and several trial sessions with ODOT before they dove in whole-heartedly.

Once everything was in place, the committee had one more objective, and that was to have every aspect of the signs created in Walnut Creek Township.

The committee finally settled on a design and took it to Precision Cuts. Norman Beachy did all of the cutting for the signs, which are powder-coated stainless steel signs. Mast Farm Service did the powder coating and added die-cut stainless steel inserts to make a 3-D appeal.

The signs were then glazed with a wood-look finish and touched up with a reflective coating at Walnut Creek Finishing, giving the signs a beautiful vintage look that comes across as wood despite being made of steel.

Mast Farm Service then created the powder-coated aluminum, heavy-duty posts for each sign. The businesses association joined Swiss Valley Fence and the township to take care of the marking of each sign. The installation was then done by Swiss Valley Fence.

Mohr said having Mast on board was crucial because she said he is adamant that if he is involved, he wants to put a terrific product out there. For the most part that was the prevailing mindset of all involved.

Throughout the process all of the participating businesses were very generous in keeping the price for the signs as low as possible.

“The fact that we were able to design and create these signs right here in our own township is amazing,” Mohr said.

Mohr joked that they heard on more than one occasion that once the signs were designed and completed but not yet installed, the prevailing thought was that Walnut Creek would be able to call itself the littlest town with the largest street signs.

“During the design phase, we kept hearing people basically saying, ‘We are going to be in the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest street signs ever,’” Mohr said with a laugh. “The dimensions we had to have for ODOT, especially with signs out on state Route 39, looked gigantic.”

However, once the signs were installed, they didn’t look gigantic at all, but instead looked like they fit the surrounding perfectly.

One local business member spoke to the committee and noted that the signs looked great and that they are substantial, stating, “Walnut Creek: We are made of something.”

“I thought that was perfect because it was a reflection of the time and effort and the look we were going for because we wanted this to be lasting and to make a statement,” Mohr said.

Mohr added that they have already heard from travelers what a neat addition the signs are to the town.

Another boon for the project was that the Holmes County Commissioners sent some county bed tax funding their way to help support the beautification process financially.

The signs include 18 different locations including South Drive, which never had an official sign. Mohr said that was important because it gives first responders a better route to follow should an emergency arise.

Mohr added that nearly the entire town was behind this project and that it has snowballed into the town focusing on other ways they can improve the community, from litter removal to welcome signs.

“People are excited about adding to the appeal of our town, and that is exciting,” Mohr said. “We may not be big in size, but we have a lot of people in our small town who are big thinkers.”


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